The world begins with Hong Kong movies

Chapter 477 Response! (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Wow…

Wu Feng swung the document in his hand, making a crisp sound.

With a smile, he said leisurely, "After seeing the list of Hong Kong stars' salaries, I thought our movies had already fully entered the domestic market, and even the Taiwanese and Southeast Asian markets were a smooth road ahead!"

The tone of his voice was full of teasing.

He was genuinely surprised; at this time, the salaries of Hong Kong stars were probably comparable to those of top stars in mainland China around 2015.

Cheng Shilong, who ranked first, needs no further explanation. His normal salary at this time was only ten million, which was a completely reduced figure.

In 1987, his salary was 25 million plus 5% of the film's box office revenue.

The reason they're willing to lower their fees right now is simply to gain a larger share of the game adaptation market, which is understandable.

What he found hard to understand was that Li Lianjie's salary had also reached ten million, almost on par with Cheng Shilong.

It seems that in 1992, he only filmed the second installment of the Wong Fei-hung series, "Once Upon a Time in China II".
In other words, he only filmed two Wong Fei-hung movies in a row, and his salary reached tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

This left Wu Feng quite puzzled!
Li Lianjie's film was not released on Xiao Ri Ri.

It's unrealistic to expect to support such high salaries solely through the Taiwanese and Southeast Asian markets.

The box office in Southeast Asia is basically on par with that in Hong Kong and Macau.

It's hard to say whether Cinema City will have any profit left after deducting production costs.

It's impossible that Cinema City is working for this person for free, right?
The director of the Wong Fei-hung movies was Tsui Hark. Before Cinema City and Golden Princess went out of business, he had always collaborated with Cinema City.

That's why Li Lianjie was considered a star at Cinema City at that time.

Unless, of course, the videotapes and DVDs of Wong Fei-hung's movies sell extremely well!

Thanks to Wu Feng, the Wong Fei-hung movies were able to be shown in Chinatown cinemas in the United States and Europe, which can be considered a decent source of income.

Following the list of highest-paid actors are Kevin Cheng and Andy Lau, who earn around eight million, as well as Leslie Cheung and Alan Tam.

There are even more celebrities with a following value of over five million.

That's why Wu Feng found it so incredible.

Have they all gone mad?

This is a complete abandonment of box office revenue, making all the film companies act like they're running a charity.

Male stars' salaries have skyrocketed, and so have female stars'!
"To be honest, none of us know either!"

Zou Wenhuai smiled wryly and said, "Fortunately, Ah Long's movie doesn't necessarily need other big stars to star in it, otherwise the production cost would be too high!"

This is a small conference room on the upper floors of the headquarters building of Wu Feng's group.

Meanwhile, sitting in the small conference room were all bosses of top-tier film companies in Hong Kong.

Let's not even talk about Wu Feng, but there's Raymond Chow from Golden Harvest, Mr. Lui from Golden Princess, Karl Maka from Cinema City, and Mr. Poon from D&B Films.

The reason they gathered together was to discuss the skyrocketing salaries of Hong Kong stars.

They all knew exactly what was going on; the key was the subsequent response measures.

Mr. Pan, the owner of Debao, spoke up unhappily: "I don't know what those Taiwanese people are thinking. They come here and immediately raise the salaries of celebrities to such high levels, as if to show that they are very rich?"

"Hehe, I guess they want to gain some control over the Hong Kong film industry, since the interests involved are huge!"

Boss Lei, the owner of Princess Jin, wasn't in good health. His face turned ashen as he spoke, and his voice was weak and strained. "They're dreaming!"

Zou Wenhuai sneered, "Since they're so eager, let them cause all the trouble. As long as we don't cause any problems, where will they find an opening to exploit?"

"Indeed!"

Boss Pan added, "But I'm still a little annoyed that people are being taken advantage of like this!"

"If all celebrities had half or even a third of Cheng Shilong's influence in Asia, I would accept their increased pay!"

"Wu Sheng, what measures is Fengrui Film & Television taking?"

Zou Wenhuai had no interest in listening to Boss Pan's ramblings, and instead turned his gaze to Wu Feng, who was sitting in the main seat.

"In fact, I think Golden Harvest's satellite company model is quite suitable for the current situation!"

Wu Feng chuckled and said, "It's normal to want to hire big stars when making movies, but their salaries are too high. So let's make them investors too!"

"We'll share the risks together!"

"Of course, if the movie is a big hit, they'll earn even more!"

Wu Feng sneered, "Of course, we must firmly hold onto the rights to adapt the movie into a game!"

"That's for sure!"

Boss Pan laughed and said, "I reckon those big stars will be cursing us if we do this!"

"Hehe, we can't expect the film company to bear all the responsibility, that's not reasonable!"

Wu Feng replied bluntly, "Fengrui Films' filming schedule will not be disrupted because of this!"

"If anyone is dissatisfied, then we can replace them. If there aren't any suitable stars in Hong Kong, there are still actors from the mainland, aren't there?"

"Speaking of mainland actors, martial arts actors have quite a few impressive roles!"

Zou Wenhuai laughed and said, "If our film companies ever need you in the future, Wu Sheng, don't be stingy and refuse to release you!"

"Don't worry, as long as you follow the rules, why would I deliberately hold someone back?"

Wu Feng said irritably, "But on another note, you should also make sure to talk to your directors so that nothing unpleasant happens and it doesn't look good for anyone!"

In fact, Hong Kong Island has no shortage of directors who look down on the mainland.

Zhang Zhiliang, who directed "Seven Days of Wrong Love", is just such a guy.

Consequently, Zheng Dazui, who has played the female lead in many of his films, is also someone who doesn't think much of mainland China.

Wu Feng is worried that other film company executives may not have noticed this phenomenon, leaving mainland actors who were loaned out to the company to suffer in silence.

In fact, Fengrui Films has some mainland actors, among whom Zhu Shimao and Chen Xiaoer are prominent. Their comedy film did not perform badly at the Hong Kong box office, grossing more than 15 million.

Unfortunately, they have to rehearse for the Spring Festival Gala skits, so they can only stay on Hong Kong Island for a maximum of six months each year and can only shoot one or two movies at most.

The comedy film I mentioned earlier was just a trial run!
As it turns out, as long as the script is well-crafted and the two lead actors deliver outstanding performances, Hong Kong audiences will appreciate it.

Zhu Shimao not only directs comedy films, but his performance in urban films is equally outstanding. His acting skills can be said to surpass all the Hong Kong actors he has worked with, which is not an exaggeration at all.

(End of this chapter)